USC Cricket Club is proud to announce the official start to the Cromwell Premier League Fall 2010 Season. The Registration Link is now LIVE and valid for the 1st 90 Participants who register on the website.

We have made radical changes to the tournament structure this season. The improvements are both aesthetic and functional and have been done to make your experience more worthwhile. We?ve listened to feedback received from your captains and teammates to incorporate a format which encourages participation and team spirit.

a. Introducing the SUPER SIX round for the 1st time this season. Earlier, each team only played 5 regular season games and depending on whether they qualified for the semi?s they played a couple of games more. However, this season there will be a SUPER SIX round after the regular round of 5 games. The teams according to their rankings will be divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each, which will face off against each other in an adrenaline pumping final round in order to make a final sprint to make it to the semi-final spots. The SUPER SIX round will include bonus points for each game, which will give the opportunity for even the lowest ranked teams to get into the semi?s. Hence, this year each team will play a minimum of 8 games, as opposed to 5 games last season. This will give a decent chance for all new players to earn their spots in their team.

b. The biggest addition to this year?s CPL bonanza, is that all teams will wear ORIGINAL IPL JERSEY?s. We have 15 jersey?s for each team from Reebok, Puma and Adidas to be used throughout the season. All player?s will wear their team uniforms while on the field. Please look at the attached files below to pick and select your favorite team jersey.

c. LIVE webcast for all games this season, we have ironed out the technical defects we faced last semester regarding the wireless link problem at Cromwell. We would now be using a 3G card to telecast HD all games. Here is a link for the quality which we shot last semester ? LINK 1 and LINK 2

d. For the 1st time in CPL?s history, the AUCTIONS will be telecasted LIVE to your laptops. All captains have agreed to this policy and you will experience the thrilling and exciting phase where captains will strategize and battle it out to procure their superstars.

e. As we did last semester, there will be individual trophies for all members of the winning team and medals for the 2nd place team. There will also be MVP trophies for a. Top run scorer b. Highest wicket taker c. MVP finals d. MVP of the series e. Most outstanding fielder along with other awards.

f. Free drinks and refreshments provided to sponsored teams , CSK by GPSS, DD by Mayura Restaurant.

g. The scoring and stats utility on the website has been tested and is ready to go right from the start of the season.

Finally, the much awaited CPL kicks off next week on FRIDAY the 27th of August at 8:15 PM with the 1st game of the season.

Auctions date will be released by Monday.

All these UPGRADES however, will not affect the fee structure and the membership fee for the whole tournament is ONLY $25 which includes 4 months of non-stop entertainment every Friday evening from 6PM to 11:30 PM at Cromwell Track and Field. Jersey's will be provided by the club at NO EXTRA COST to the players. The fee also covers cost of Equipment which will be provided by the club.

Starting Monday till thrusday, there will be trials for all new players at the Cromwell Track and Field. All Captains will be present to scout for talent for their teams. It will also give everyone a chance to meet the Six Captains and talk to them about the tournament and team composition. Also, the USC Cricket Team will also be on the lookout for fresh new talent to include them in the current SCCA season.

So wait no further and go ahead and spread the word, invite your friends and let's play some cricket. Go ahead and register at www.usccricket.com or click this REGISTRATION LINK.

Please be sure to provide all information on the page, including your previous cricket playing experience and availability for the whole season from August till December.

Let the games BEGIN next FRIDAY... Registration is ONLY FOR THE 1st 90 Participants (15 members in each team). I'm attaching the flyer's from each of the 6 captains. Please feel free to contact the captains if you wish to play for their team.

SEASON STARTS AUGUST 27th 2010

If you have any general queries contact: tarunsandhu@gmail.com or bvignesh123@gmail.com

REGISTER NOW @ www.usccricket.com or go directly to http://www.usccricket.com/registration.jsp

FIGHT ON..!!

As we eagerly await the much hyped 2009 fall CPL season, let's take a closer look into the 6 teams this year and see which of the 6 captains played their cards the best. Needless to say, the auctions this year were a hugely exciting affair with all 6 captains trying to undo and undermine each other to maximize the bang for the buck. Our correspondent from the auction meeting reports and looks closely on the 6 teams this year.

Ankur Saxena, for the 1st time captaining a team, primarily trying to resurrect the chemistry of the once mighty Trojan tigers of 2008. However, this was not to be, since all the other captains were well aware of Ankur's affinity for picking up his old teammates Samir Parikh and Deepak Yadav. Ankur ended up with totally different team look that perhaps he would've imagined before the auction began.

THE BUZZ: Abhinay G. picked for 390 points was certainly a surprise for some, we asked what the other captains felt about it and the almost unanimous chant was that Ankur probably got this one wrong. Abhinay, the Man of the series from the last CPL season, was definitely gonna be a huge asset to any team, but is he worth 39% of your team value? Here?s what one fellow captain had to say about this deal ? "I feel it was a classic case of how a novice captain gets intimidated by the auction process, as we?ve seen in the past and the other captains read Ankur?s mind and kept raising the stakes, knowing how badly Ankur wanted this guy in his team. This is exactly why experience comes in handy at the auction table." Definitely, Ankur might be having second thoughts about his decision, but needless to say, only Abhinay can prove him right with some match winning knocks.

BALANCE: Taking a closer look into the squad, the 5 frontline bowlers for DD would probably be : Ankur, Abhinay, Kushan, Bipin and Rushab. The bowling line up would rate up to 3.5/5 which is pretty decent for CPL. The Batting offers: Impact Player Rushit Patel, Ankur, Abhinay - the rest is still dicey, with a lot of inexperienced batsman in the line up. Probably a 3/5 best when it comes to batting power.

PREDICTIONS: Ankur did a pretty decent job in his 1st auction, picked up some good players, and more importantly has a decent bowling attack. However, the team looks heavily dependent on Rushit and Abhinay for batting. If the opposition can get these 2 outta the way, would be pretty much game over for the DD.

Vignesh, yet another freshman captain, probably the youngest and least experienced captain in the mix. However, he played out really smartly and showed a good head by picking up some really good smart players for probably the better value than most of the other captains. The super kings have a really well balanced and thought out squad steaming of fresh blood and young enthusiasm. Vignesh also reminisces of M. Dhoni as he too is the Wicket Keeper for the USC squad and also shows potential of a perfect mix or brain and brawn.

THE BUZZ: Viggy perhaps came with the ideal mindset of not going overboard with the IMPACT players and sticking to the 100-200 range players and getting the most value for his points. He played mellow when the other captains were going haywire and betting in the higher price brackets and kept his nerve to pull off some good players in the end. According to one captain, "I certainly feel that the Super Kings will be the team to watch out for since most of these guys are unheard of and can be a real threat if they get going."

BALANCE: CSK surely has the potential to be one of the leading teams in the group, but inexperience is a huge factor in this squad. With hardly any impact players to chose from, it might just play out adversely for the team. In the bowling dept. they have new guy Siddhant, experienced Amey, Aniket and then..?? Too much inexperience in the bowling dept. probably means that the good batting teams will probably be making CSK the ideal slaughterhouse for this season. 2/5 stars for the bowling line-up. Batting wise, very decent looking squad - Viggy, Rohan, Mishal, Dushyant, Utsav all are promising and good batsmen. They would definitely need to stand up and deliver to keep CSK within firing range.

PREDICTIONS: It will be interesting to see how Viggy manages this bunch. We have seen traits of good leadership in this young lad, whether he can handle the pressure of CPL needs to be seen.

Hashir Malik is probably one of the most experienced captains at Cromwell. Having led the former Pakistan Cheetahs to numerous titles, his teams in the past have inevitably always made it atleast to the semi-finals of every Cromwell season. His biggest advantage is the backing of Pakistan players who come from Orange County to play here at USC. Most of these players are usually termed "endemic" to Hashir's squad, as they are virtually inaccessible to most of the other captains. Hashir continued to use his vast experience in creating yet another powerhouse squad for this season.

THE BUZZ: Hashir probably met with a little more fight and fright this time, as the other captains fought hard to raise the stakes for the Pakistan players this time around. No freebies were given to Hashir and he really had to think hard and fast to get the players he needed. Notching up experienced longhorns like Tarun Sandhu and Jeet Poonater will definitely add up to the firepower of this team.

BALANCE: Probably the best balanced team amongst the 6. Be it bowling, batting or fielding KP have a really decent squad, which can never be underestimated. Bowling- undoubtedly the most experienced and well oiled bowling attack with Sandhu, Jeet, Hashir and Fahad; easily a 4/5 as far as bowling goes. With the bat- Maybe a little jittery but decent nevertheless - has Hashir, Jeet, Fahad, Sandhu, Imran, Furqan, Simon? which is almost a neverending batting lineup. A 4/5 for batting aswell.

PREDICTIONS: You might wanna call it the irony of Cromwell, but it's almost never that a preseason favorite team has gone on to win the trophy. Last season we had the Hurricanes which were a total powerhouse throughout the tournament and they got blown away by the Leavy Lions in the semi-finals. Hence, it needs to be seen if this team can produce the goods time and time again.

The Knight Riders, are lead by one of the most exciting captains at Cromwell. Sushil has a rich history of being one of the most successful captains at Cromwell, since the beginning of the competition. He has also been known to put together very well organized and thought out teams. His experience helps him in taking cricket to the next level when it comes to Cromwell. A game against the KKR is certainly taken for granted to be entertaining and lively.

THE BUZZ: Sushil has yet again managed to pull out a very good team, the new captains should infact take a leaf out of his playbook and see how he manages to pull off some of these players. By getting players like Tyagi, Nanda, Reddy, Ankit Desai, Sapan, yadav, Bharat. Superbly balanced team yet again, experienced and competitive. In my opinion this is probably the top team for the season along with Kings XI Punjab.

BALANCE: Very nicely balanced, however only availability of players seem to be an issue. Rishabh Nanda will only be available for the 8:15 games, Ankit Desai and Vinith Reddy are also dicey for their availability for the entire season. Tyagi had a horrendous run last season with the bat, but probably with his old veteran partner Rishab Nanda back at the top, it might just spark off the return of glory days for him. Bowling has - Ankit, Bharat, Sapan, Nanda, Yadav, Sriram, Tyagi. Loads of experience and talent there, easily a 4.5/5. Batting has Nanda, Tyagi, Sushil, Bharat, Reddy, Ankit etc. again very well balanced, a 4/5 atleast .

PREDICTIONS: Everything looks good for this team except maybe the availability part. If it is a 6 o clock start game for them, not sure how many would be able to make it to the ground on time for it. And again, consistency will be the key and how well they can keep the running machine oiled up for the big games.

Karthik is a vastly experienced player, probably been around since the start of Cromwell cricket at USC. His expert analysis and quick sharp decision making abilities make him a very formidable captain against any opposition. He did manage to pick out a good bunch of players and seems to have got a good knack of how to manage his players well.

THE BUZZ: Maybe of the first big debacles of the season, Chintan Kadakia, one of the more experienced and talented guys, may not be participating in the tournament after all. The news came in early morning today and this leaves the BRC squad hugely dented.

BALANCE: Very tricky side to predict but looks balanced for the most part. The bowling dept. is spearheaded by Kiran G. a veteran at Cromwell, but hasn?t had a good enough run with the ball last few seasons. A lot depends on him and how he manages to motivate and inspire his 2nd string bowlers. Pankaj, Harshvardhan are the other 2 bowlers, which means probably Pralhad and Rishab Mehra might be asked to bowl. There 6 overs could be crucial in deciding who wins the game. A 3/5 for the BRC. Batting provides the 2 left hander's kiran and karthik, impact players would be Pralhad and Mehra again. Bharath Horatti and a couple of the young guys provide the X factor to the team. Very interesting bunch, hard to predict but certainly weakened by the absence of Chintan. A 3/5 for batting for them.

PREDICTIONS: Should be the underdogs certainly and this would certainly help Karthik and his men. Again, the key to their success lies in how Kiran, Pralhad and Mehra hold up their nerves and deliver for the team.

Sharan Sharma, returns as Captain to redeem himself. Sharan has captained for a couple of seasons at Cromwell but has come up empty handed. The teams at both times simply didn't add up to the winning combination. According to fellow captains the general feeling amongst the group is that Sharan's over enthusiasm and over experimentation at times digs the grave. However, Sharan is determined to end his stint here at USC in his senior year with a bang, a final shot at the title which he wants so badly. Last season he did end up on the winning side under the Leavy Lions but to win the title being the captain is the actual crowned jewel.

THE BUZZ: The most underrated team for the tournament one would feel. Looking over the players in the squad, one would feel insecure with the composition. Samir P. is bound to miss out on 1 month of action, which would certainly hamper the team. Ashish R. is not in the best of form being in and out of the USC team based on his erratic bowling performances. Yousaf Khan is a match winner when he gets going, but had a forgettable season last time. Ahmed Omer would probably be the only dependable guy in the team with the bat. All in all, an extremely volatile squad.

BALANCE: Another look at the team and we see in the bowling dept. Samir P, Ashish R. and ??? huge huge drawback there. Only a 2/5 for bowling for this team. Batting offers little consolation aswell. Sharan, Ahmed O, Yusuf Khan and ???. A 2/5 in batting prowess too.

PREDICTIONS: As learned from the past, the wise guys will tell you this, Cromwell is anybody's game. Its not about who you have in the team, its about how badly you want to win it and whether you can raise your game when it matter?s the most. Last season, it was all the new guys like Abhinay, Pralhad, Harsha K. who took away the mantle and came good for their respective teams while the seniors did just enough to keep the games interesting. This season will be no different, our evaluations can only go with people who have played at Cromwell before, we can only speculate and predict but the accuracy goes haywire when people stop doing the talking and start playing serious cricket. Sharan's squad would ertainly be the most weakest on paper, but it's all about giving it all you have.

The fall edition of CPL 2009 will be underway shortly. Here is the registration link - http://usccricket.com/TrojanCricketClub/pages/registration.jsp

please go ahead and register yourself for the season.

Friday Sept 4th - 2 practice games which will feature all the new players who have joined in the Fall 2009 edition. We will appoint 4 captains to lead a group of new players for these games. This will serve as a warm up game for the new comers and also help them showcase their talent in front of the newly appointed captains.

Friday, Sept 11th - 1st official game

Vice- Captain and President of the Trojan Cricket Club, Tarun Sandhu has been called upon by the SCCA and has been selected in the list of Probables for the upcoming US National Championship from August 1 to 3 in Minneapolis, MN organized by the USACA(United States Cricket Association) http://www.usaca.org/

Tarun Sandhu's recent performances in the domestic season for USC which included a Six wicket haul and a hattrick along with his performance in the Kirgin Cellar's Cup Final against NCCA XI(Northern California Cricket Association) earlier in May 2009 have prompted the SCCA selectors to call upon him for the National Championships.

Tarun Sandhu is the 1st ever USC player to be called upon by the SCCA to play for the South-West Regional Team in a National Championship. Tarun Sandhu would be rubbing shoulders with some of the top stars in Southern California including international star Franklyn Rose, USA team member and Captain of Hollywood team- Aditya Thyagarajan, Vijata Captain and Ranji Player- Mehul Dave.

The Trojan Cricket Club would like to congratulate him on this achievement and for keeping the Trojan Flag flying high.

News Flash

Pioneer - 77 all out

USC - 80/6

Man Of the Match - Jeet Poonetar

We have a Tape Ball tournament coming up which is being organized by the SCCA (Southern California Cricket Association) on June 13th/14th at Woodley cricket grounds.

The management will facilitate anyone who wishes to put together a team for this competition. The last date for registration is May 30th, and there is a registration fee of $500.

A maximum of 15 players can be on a team, which means the fees could be about around $25 per person for this tournament which guarantees at least 6 games. All the funds collected from this tournament go the SCCA and its development. And of course if you win the tournament you would not only recover your registration fee but also maybe earn some extra cash since there are cash prizes involved.

The Rules are as follows: RULES - 8 to 12 teams in competition - 11 players per team. Field substitutes allowed. - 10 over innings - Round robin format. Each team is guaranteed 6 games - Cash prizes for winners and runner up as well as best performers - Matches for each team will be scheduled over two days (as close as possible) - Umpires, tape balls and score sheets provided - Teams bring own bats - All matches on SCCA grounds (TBD) in Orange County (turf wicket)

We would strongly urge players to go all out for this tournament as we have enough practice of tape ball cricket at Cromwell. Please let us know if anyone is interested in entering a team. The team members do not necessarily have to be USC hard ball team players or USC students/Alumni. You can invite your friends to participate as well.

All interested participants should contact me ASAP and the board can facilitate formation of another USC team.

Tarun Sandhu

President

Please note that the tshirts are ready to be delivered. You can pick up the tshirt from Karthik Dantu at RTH(Veterbi School) during his office hours starting wednesday till Friday.

Please make sure that you have cleared your existing dues for the tshirts before you collect them. Dues are to be transferred to either Tarun Sandhu/Jeet P/Zaki Murtaza no later than Friday. For account information please refer to the email sent out on the USC Cricket google gp.

When asked about his plans for the team, he said : " We have fallen enough, now its time to rise. I believe in my players and my players believe in me. My plan is simple, WIN and that is exactly what we will do. More game exposure to the young players, more practices are definitely on my agenda"

The captain looks confident and so does the team . We look forward to the upcoming season.

"We will be strong and will definitely resolve these issues, we have plans and we will implement them" , the president quoted.